Engage
by luvsanime02
Summary: The time has come for all of their plans to finally start being put into motion. This is the eighth story in Navigation, a fem!Heero series.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Gundam Wing, and am making no money off of this fic.

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 **Engage** by luvsanime02

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Chapter 1

~~Five Years Later~~

Relena calls up Governor Reckon. This is a deliberate choice, of course. Very much so. Although she has no proof, and has no plans to confront him over the matter, Relena knows for a fact that he was the one behind that kidnapping attempt on her all those years ago. In a calculated bid to put someone else in her seat of Vice Foreign Minister, he manipulated Senator Hittun and the others, and arranged the whole fiasco from behind the scenes.

Well, since Relena ended up quitting her position afterwards, Governor Reckon got what he wanted in the end, didn't he?

Now, so will she. Yes, Relena is about to get a lot of satisfaction out of this meeting.

"Miss Peacecraft," Governor Reckon says when he answers her call, "it's a pleasure to hear from you again."

He looks older, of course. They all are. But while Relena's been traveling and making friends, and building up her influence, Governor Reckon and the rest have been slowly watching as all of their power has been snatched away from them. While Relena looks relaxed, Governor Reckon looks haggard, his hair receding and mostly grey.

And to think, he's only been worrying about her growing authority for two years. It took Earth's parliament members almost four years before they finally noticed what Relena and Heero have been up to, the businesses and contacts they've been establishing and consolidating, and the powerful people all around the Earth Sphere who are now indebted to them. By then, it was far too late to stop Relena anymore.

"Thank you," she answers. "I know you're a busy man, so I'll make this brief." He's anything except busy these days, but it's a nice excuse to hurry this conversation along. Besides, the look of anger that flashes across his face at Relena's dismissive tone amuses her. Good. Let Governor Reckon be angry. She's waited years to say this.

"What can I do for you, Miss Peacecraft?" He's using that name on purpose in order to needle her, she knows, but Relena refuses to rise to the bait.

She smiles instead. "I'd like to issue an announcement to the parliament, and also broadcast the meeting to our fellow governments in space. Do you think that you could arrange a conference where everyone is present?"

It's not a question, not really, and they both know it. After all, if Governor Reckon refuses, Relena can always ask one of the other parliament members to arrange everything instead. More than three-quarters of the current members of parliament are indebted to her now, for one reason or another.

No, Relena's specifically speaking to Governor Reckon because, while it may be petty, she wants him to understand how powerless he is against her right now. She wants him forced to agree to her demand, even though it's the last thing that he wants to do, because he knows that refusing would be the worse option.

Yes, Relena's absolutely being petty against the man who had once arranged for her to be kidnapped. Heero had simply called it karma when Relena told her about the idea. She has a point.

Sure enough, Governor Reckon nods his head agreeably, despite the disapproval of her that's plain to read in his eyes. "Of course. I'd be delighted to help." He's a gracious loser, at least. "Everyone will be very interested in hearing what you have to say."

What an understatement. Though the parliament knows now that Relena has been amassing power and influence over the years, they still have no idea why. Very few people know what Relena's planning to say at the upcoming conference, and those who do are friends that she trusts with her life. Even more importantly, she's trusting them with the future of the human race.

"Wonderful," Relena says, as though there was ever any doubt about Governor Reckon agreeing to help her. "I'm free next week, Tuesday morning."

The date will not be lost on him, and indeed, Relena watches Governor Reckon's eyes narrow in response. Tuesday morning will coincide with the ten-year anniversary of Mars's government being established. Relena's brother will be attending this conference, is what she's just implicitly informed Governor Reckon of, and he clearly doesn't like the implications of Mars being included one bit.

"Very well," is what he says, though.

"Then I'll see you next week." With that, Relena ends the call and leans back in her chair, letting out a sigh. She looks out the window beside her. The sky's clear right now, but there are storm clouds forming in the distance.

Relena only has to wait one more week.

~~Next Tuesday~~

When Relena walks into the conference room at nine in the morning, the full parliament has already gathered and almost all of them are still standing around, clustered into small groups and no doubt debating with each other about what the outcome of this meeting will entail.

Behind Relena enters Heero and Frank. They're both wearing suits, and have visible weapons on their persons. Relena's not sure that she approves, but Heero has already argued with her about that. After Relena's announcement, someone might be stupid enough to try and attack her. If so, Heero and Frank are there to make sure that they don't succeed.

Relena also knows that neither of them will shoot to kill, and that just their presence is likely more than enough to deter anyone from acting foolishly, so she reluctantly agrees with them being armed. It still makes Relena uneasy to finally announce her plans to everyone while there are weapons on clear display around her, but she supposes that it's preferable to being caught unawares.

After their presences are noticed, all chatter around the room slowly dies down. Relena almost walks up to her old seat, but of course, she can't. She's not here as a member of parliament. Besides, that seat is already occupied, she sees. Instead, Relena walks calmly over to the podium and stands there, waiting. Heero and Frank take up positions slightly behind and to either side of her, somehow managing to be unobtrusive yet impossible to ignore at the same time.

The message that all three of them together present is loud and clear. Relena is here to talk, not to listen. She's not approached by anyone. When none of them try to pull her aside and persuade her not to speak at the last minute, her shoulders relax just slightly and Relena lets out the breath that she's been holding. She's really going to do this.

There's another ten minutes of waiting before the vid connections to L1 and L4 are established. Relena's not surprised to see Quatre sitting casually beside the governor of L4, and she smiles at him. Yes, she rather thought that he'd want a front row seat during this. Another couple of minutes later, L5 connects, with L3 warily following. The L3 government has always been a little hands-off with Relena ever since Mariemaia's failed rebellion. Unnecessarily so, since she's never held L3 any ill will over the whole incident. Only towards Dekim Barton, and he's been dead for years.

Mars connects then, and Relena has to force herself not to betray any emotion when her brother's face appears on the screen. She'd called Milliardo last month and asked him to attend this conference. His own expression shows that he's very curious about what she's been up to. If there are any regrets Relena has about not confiding in him before now, it's that she hates the way Milliardo's eyes suddenly frost over when he takes in Heero and Frank standing behind her as bodyguards, clearly armed.

He doesn't say anything, though. Not yet. Relena's very grateful that he's willing to wait for her to speak first, because her older brother trying to reprimand Relena before her speech would definitely ruin the untouchable aura that she's trying to project.

Relena wonders if Milliardo has noticed that she's modeling her poise based on what she remembers of Treize Khushrenada. Judging from Milliardo's wary expression, she'd bet on yes.

L2 finally connects a few minutes later. Relena would have been worried, but she knows that the wait is deliberate. The governor of L2 is a tyrant, and dislikes obeying the orders of others, even his supposed peers. Relena knows that he's also hated among the general L2 populace, and she honestly doesn't know why he hasn't been assassinated yet. He's refused to work with Relena at every turn, and she expects now will be no different.

It's a good thing that Relena's not relying on him.

Enough waiting. Relena straightens her shoulders but keeps her back relaxed, and begins. "Gentlemen, thank you for agreeing to hear me out this morning."

Some of those in the conference room with Relena look as though they want to reply, but they're all too curious to actually interrupt just yet.

"Humanity has a long and fractured history of warring with itself," Relena continues, keeping her voice steady by force of will. "This propensity for war has unfortunately only increased ever since we've journeyed into space and established settlements away from our home planet. The colonies fight against each other, Earth fights against the colonies-" Relena takes a quiet breath, and forces herself not to turn away from her brother's gaze "-and Mars is likely to be the next to war with the rest of us if things continue on as they currently are."

If anyone is going to interrupt her, it will be now. But Milliardo remains silent. He's carefully studying her face, but he's waiting to hear her point. Relena thinks she loves him for that.

"I will not let that happen," she continues more firmly. "Action must be taken now in order to prevent another war, to prevent any future wars amongst humanity. We are all the same people, and it's time that we were properly united."

Relena pauses, and gives her brother a significant look. Milliardo raises an eyebrow in response, but does what she's silently asking him to do. "And how exactly do you plan on accomplishing this, Relena?" he asks.

That he's using her first name is deliberate, reminding everyone else here of their familial relationship. Relena smiles at Milliardo warmly, because while she still does not know him very well, she'd known that she could count on him for at least this much.

"It's simple, really," she answers. A lie, but a well-meant one. She's been working towards this moment for almost six years now, and everything's only going to become even more complicated from here on out. "The time for separate governments, each with its own constitution and laws, is at an end. From now on, there must be only one government. This is the only way for humanity to become truly united as one people."

The stunned silence that follows her statement is only to be expected. After all, Relena's just told all of them that their jobs, their status as leaders of their governments, are now obsolete.

"When there is only one nation, one people, we won't fight against each other any longer." Not without great personal cost for everyone involved, anyway, and Relena will have people working along with her to make sure it never comes to that. "There will finally be peace," she says, and then Relena takes one full step back from the microphone to convey that she's finished, opening the podium up to anyone else who wants to speak next.

The room she occupies is still absolutely silent. None of Earth's representatives are protesting; they have no power to do so. Relena almost wishes that one of them would speak up anyways, but although they're all giving her hard stares, none of them says any word of protest. Relena has complete control over them right now. She's positive that she'll be hearing a formal refusal from the parliament later, though, after she's left the room and they've had time to discuss her speech.

What Relena's really waiting for is the reactions of the various colony governors. And, of course, her brother's.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Milliardo's face is carefully blank, and then slowly he starts shaking his head. Relena's worried that he'll become angry, but instead, he looks tired. "The other governments will never agree to become one nation with Mars," he says at last.

Relena looks back at him steadily. "And if I can make that happen?" she asks.

His eyes are chips of ice set in an expression of stone. "If you can accomplish that, then we'll talk," he agrees. He does not, she notices, promise that Mars will follow everyone else's example in that scenario. Relena's not worried, though. Just getting Milliardo to agree with her this much, enough to let her try, is an accomplishment. After saying his piece, Milliardo inclines his head at her and then signs off.

When she looks away from the black screen, Relena notices that the L2 governor has already left the conference without a word. She's not surprised, and doesn't bother to mention it.

Quatre's smiling, looking pleased. Relena doesn't know if he just believes that much in her ability to handle everything, or if he secretly finds the stunned silence of everyone else that amusing. She'll have to ask Heero later. "I think this sounds like an excellent venture, Relena."

Using her first name of course makes it obvious to everyone else that Quatre is Relena's ally and friend in this. The L4 governor sitting beside Quatre looks like he's swallowed something sour, but he doesn't dare protest. Relena smiles back at them both. "Your opinion means a lot to me, Quatre," she says.

They're both acting as though he didn't know beforehand what she was going to say here today. Even though Relena knows that they're not fooling anyone, it's still essential for them to maintain the fiction. Quatre shouldn't appear too partial to her, though of course he is.

"I look forward to lending a hand if you need it," he offers, ignoring that he's been helping her for years now.

"Thank you," she says. "I'm sure I'll be getting in touch with you soon."

Quatre signs them both off, then, no doubt to discuss everything with the L4 governor without an audience present. By discuss, Relena of course means Quatre will inform him that it's for the best to agree with her plan.

The governor of L3 looks nauseous, and Relena's honestly worried about him getting sick right here and now. He stammers something about wishing her well, and then leaves. The clear panic on his face is the second thing that Relena actually feels guilty about today.

The governors of L5 and L1 have been speaking quietly with each other ever since her announcement, and Relena's been politely ignoring them, but now they're the only ones left.

"Gentlemen?" she prompts, not wanting to wait and find out if they'll continue to purposely ignore her or not.

The governor of L5 turns his head her way and nods. "I will discuss your proposal with my constituents, Miss Peacecraft. It is an interesting proposition."

That's a much more polite response than she was expecting, honestly, and Relena has to wonder if it's genuine. The governor of L1 agrees with his colleague, and then both of them leave. All that's left is Earth's parliament, these men who have ignored Relena for years, sidelined her at every opportunity, and some of whom have even caused her direct injury.

Now they're all side-eyeing each other, but none of them seems to want to be the first one to speak, not even to each other. They're all just sitting quietly in their seats, looking as though they're waiting for Relena to say something more, while at the same time dreading her speaking up and dropping another bombshell on them.

Relena's said all that she means to today, though. After a minute of no one else talking, she steps up to the microphone again only to say, "Good day, gentlemen."

Everything had gone like she'd hoped. Relena currently has a hold over the most powerful men on Earth, and she isn't planning on relinquishing that anytime soon. They'll oppose her at first, she knows, but they will not win this battle.

Well, if Relena must act first again, then she will. At the continued stillness all around her, she lifts her chin and slowly makes her way off of the platform. No one stops her. Heero and Frank follow serenely in her wake, and the quiet continues until she leaves the room.

For now, Relena is waiting to see what all of them will make of her speech.

By the next day, Relena has her answer from Earth's parliament. They are determined to oppose her movements. Not the members that Relena has in her debt, of course, but everyone else. They don't even have the courage to communicate this to Relena in a face-to-face meeting. Instead, a letter is emailed to her.

 _Miss Peacecraft:_

 _Having discussed at length your proposal with our separate governments, we unfortunately feel that we cannot in good conscience endorse your plan. We of Earth feel that our brethren in space would take advantage of your kindness, and use this opportunity to plan an attack of their own._

The message is brief and not signed, and has been copied and routed through every parliament member's address. Heero traces it back to Governor Reckon, and Relena can't even pretend to be surprised. It's all bullshit, of course. They haven't discussed this with every government official on Earth, or their offices, or the people, or even with their fellow parliament members in space.

Anticipating that something like this was going to happen, Relena enacts the proper response. She starts calling people, influential people, naming names and favors, using the information she and her friends have been gathering over the years. She's polite and firm, and most of the people that Relena contacts are only too-happy to do as she asks.

And then Relena sends back her own email, making sure of course to send it to Governor Reckon directly, before copying it to everyone else.

 _Gentlemen,_

 _Thank you for getting back in touch with me so promptly. Your refusal to comply saddens me, but to be quite honest, I'm not sure if your words have the power to affect my plans any. After all, if you check, you'll find that I have all the backing that I need._

 _I have also recently taken control of the Preventers Corps from the proper Brussels and ESUN officials. They were in fact quite relieved to hand over all authority of the peace-keeping force to me, and I was obliged to accept._

 _Without such a force to oppose me, and without any political or financial backing beyond what a few of you together may possess, your hands seem to be quite tied in this matter._

Relena doesn't sign her message. There's no need to.

Even though she wishes that gaining direct control over Preventers hadn't become necessary, it's done with now. Une will be pleased, though. Relena has no intention of keeping Preventers on a tight leash, like the ESUN did, but to instead trust the older woman to accomplish her job with minimal supervision. The fact that Relena also plans to increase the Preventers budget will likely have Une sending her thank you gifts for the next few years alone.

Of course, everything would be easier if Earth's parliament members had simply not refused to work with her. They should understand, especially those in her debt, that it's useless to resist. Their refusal was simply an empty show. Maybe they just wanted to find out what her response would be.

Well, in that case, they certainly know the answer now. Having nothing to oppose Relena with, she has Earth under her control.

Sure enough, there's no reply from Earth's parliament after that. Their silence is answer enough.

 _Dictator_ , a voice whispers in her mind. It sounds like Heero.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Three months after Relena declares that she's uniting all of humanity into one government, beholden to one universal set of laws, Trowa's positioned up on a roof across from Senator Hittun's house. For a man who was cowardly enough to try to kidnap Relena in order to force her brother's compliance years ago, the senator's being surprisingly brave nowadays.

Foolish, yes, but still brave. He's been quietly gathering support, and more importantly, money and arms to start an uprising.

Against whom, Trowa isn't quite sure of. The Preventers? The other Earth governments? Space? Relena? She doesn't have an army. Not unless you count the fact that most of Earth supports her, not to mention four of the former Gundam pilots.

Not that Trowa thinks Duo plans to oppose Relena. Especially since her partner-in-crime is Heero. If anything, Duo's probably busy trying to help win over the L2 government. He hasn't been in contact with anyone else since before Relena's announcement, though, as far as Trowa knows.

If any of the others, Trowa would have thought that Wufei would be the one to disagree and cause problems, but he seems surprisingly calm about the recent political changes. He and Quatre have completely wrangled the L4 government under their control, and if Trowa's not mistaken, Wufei's also the reason why the L5 governor is taking a wait-and-see approach over outright rebellion.

Well, whoever it is that Senator Hittun is planning on directly opposing, Trowa's here to put a stop to it. If the man had just stuck to blustering uselessly with the few fellow-minded government officials he'd found, then there'd be no reason to worry. But amassing so much weaponry? No, that's a recipe for disaster in the hands of someone clearly so impulsive and unintelligent.

Knowing that the security guards are about to rotate shifts, Trowa adjusts his outfit and scales down the side of the building, shoving his duffle bag behind some shrubs and hopping the electric fence. Well, jumping over the fence after a running start, twisting in the air, and coming down behind the guest house. Then he calmly walks forward and nods to one of the guards.

The man nods back and walks off, assuming that Trowa is his replacement guard. It works every time, and every time, Trowa's amused that it works. If you act like you belong, and dress like you belong, then everyone assumes that you belong. And sometimes, not even dressing the part is necessary if you act well enough.

There's a reason why Relena asked him to take this assignment. Trowa's had most of his life to practice blending into wherever he wants to pass unseen. Trowa walks along the guards' normal route. After all, he's trying not to draw attention to himself, and a break in the expected routine of the guards would raise alarms. So he waits until the guard who was supposed to relieve the previous one comes out, and then Trowa lets the man replace him on the guard route and casually walks around a corner and to the side entrance, where he's seen all of the other guards coming and going during the last day that he's been staking out this place.

No one looks at Trowa sideways when he walks through the service quarters of the house and into the main areas. Trowa knows from experience how to look busy and important, but not panicky. You just look straight ahead and walk fast, without stopping but also never running. Everyone will assume that you're in the middle of some urgent business they shouldn't interrupt.

Trowa saunters up the main stairs, following the blueprints of the house that he memorized before today, until he's standing in front of Senator Hittun's office. He knows from his surveillance that the man's inside, and indeed, there's a light under the door.

Trowa's not sure exactly what he's going to say when he walks inside - he prefers to not plan out interactions that far ahead, since it ruins his authenticity - but he's got a few ideas in mind, depending on how the senator reacts.

It only takes a moment to unlock the door and open it. Senator Hittun is seated at a large desk, facing not the door but outward at his expansive lawn. The view's probably inspiring, or peaceful, or something like that. All Trowa knows is that he would have instead positioned the desk to face both possible entrances into the room. Still, this works in his favor. The man doesn't even know that Trowa's there until he reaches over the senator from behind and closes the laptop he's reading something on.

To his credit, Senator Hittun doesn't yell out in fright. He looks confused for half a second, but then something clicks behind his eyes and all the blood drains from his face. Not so stupid after all, then.

"What do you want?" he asks. He doesn't bother asking for Trowa's name. Trowa doesn't know if that's because the senator doesn't believe he'd answer the question, or if he just doesn't care about the name of the messenger.

Either way, Trowa's not opposed to getting right down to business. He casually inserts himself between the man and his desk, causing Senator Hittun to wheel himself sharply backwards. Only after Trowa's leaning comfortably back against the desk does he speak. Trowa hates having his back to a window like this, but the lighting's perfect right now for throwing his face into shadow and creating a subtly menacing aura.

"I'm here to negotiate," Trowa says simply, crossing his arms.

Whatever the senator was expecting, that response clearly isn't it. The man looks shocked, maybe even a little hopeful, and he slowly settles back into his chair. Trowa smirks, although the senator can't see it with Trowa's face tilted down and hidden in the shadows. He's almost positive that the senator thought for a minute that Trowa is here to kill him.

Maybe Trowa would, if he didn't know that it's the last thing Relena would want him to do. Not that Trowa wants to kill an unarmed civilian in his own home. The idea reeks of tyranny and oppression. Senator Hittun is absolutely allowed to raise his voice and protest against Relena's policies, against the union of the peoples of Earth and space. In fact, Trowa believes that Relena has been encouraging everyone to speak their minds openly, without being afraid of censure.

No, it's Senator Hittun gathering up arms and preparing to cause bloodshed that Relena objects to. Trowa does too, which is why he's here.

"Well, then," Senator Hittun says, much more relaxed already, "that's wonderful to hear. And what concessions is Miss Peacecraft willing to give me?"

Trowa stifles the snort that wants to escape. Clearly, the man doesn't get it yet. "Oh, it's a very nice deal," Trowa says, keeping his own voice light in response to the senator's sudden cheer. "You disband the weapons you've been amassing, and swear not to take up arms against the people, and we won't have the Preventers come down on you and your fellow colleagues. You won't be disgraced and tossed into prison."

With every word, Senator Hittun's expression closes up more. He tenses in his chair again, his face turning red. "That's not a negotiation," he grits out through his clenched teeth. "That's blackmail!"

Trowa shrugs, affecting unconcern. Not his problem. "I think it's a very generous deal," Trowa says, pitching his voice softer. It carries an edge of danger now, and although the senator likely doesn't know why exactly, Trowa can see the man start to sweat from fear. "I think even the other parliament members who aren't involved in this plot will agree with me when they find out that you're planning on striking against them as well. They'll betray you in a heartbeat."

Trowa sees that strike home with Senator Hittun. The man deflates, and then leans forward to put his head in his hands. "She has to be stopped! That woman is going to throw away everything we've worked for and plunge us all into chaos. You think that I'm starting a war? I'm trying to stop one!"

Trowa unfolds his arms and straightens up from the desk, then slowly walks around the man's chair and back across the room. He pauses at the door. "If people like you wouldn't gather up weapons with the intent of using them against others, then Relena wouldn't have started this whole plan in the first place. Who's to blame, then, for our current situation?"

With that, Trowa leaves the way that he came, completely undiscovered and unnoticed. His job here is done.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

 **AN:** I've gone with the headcanon that Mariemaia's injury as a child was not permanent, and that with advanced nanogene therapy and physical therapy, Mariemaia eventually regained the ability to walk.

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Relena knows what she should do, in order to gain the favor and backing of L3. The Barton family (but not Trowa, and she doesn't know why and doesn't ask because it's none of her business) has always controlled that colony cluster, through whatever political, military, financial, marital, and immoral means necessary.

Dekim Barton is dead, and though Relena does not mourn his passing, it would have been easier if he were still alive right now. There's only one biological Barton left alive, after him, and Relena…

Doesn't want to ask Mariemaia to involve herself in L3's politics when she's spent the last sixteen years trying to build a life of her own outside of her family's long-reaching shadow.

So, despite knowing that there's an easier path, Relena's being patient with L3. Letting them talk and talk and say nothing of consequence, because she knows that their government is still economically picking itself back up after financing a failed rebellion, and she knows that their people are still looked at with suspicion by everyone else, even all these years later.

Honestly, the last thing that Relena expects is to find Mariemaia herself suddenly standing on Relena's doorstep and asking to be let inside. The first that Relena hears about this is when Heero walks into the room where Relena's trying unsuccessfully to relax with a book. Her friend looks pleased about something, and tells Relena that she has a visitor.

Puzzled, but knowing from Heero's relaxed posture that nothing's wrong, Relena sets her book aside. "Who is it?" she asks, curious about who could want to visit her without calling first. Sally?

Heero sits down in a chair near Relena and gestures towards the doorway, waiting. Relena looks too, and a moment later, a very pretty young woman walks through the door. It's her hair, the same fire-red that it was in her youth, which gives away her identity. "Mariemaia!" Relena cries out, rushing to join her.

"Relena," Mariemaia greets her, also excited, and then they're hugging. It's absurd how much affection Relena feels for this woman, who in her mind is still that same stubborn and misguided little girl. "It's good to see you."

Where once Mariemaia's speech would have sounded stilted and formal, now it's warm and bright. It's a wonderful change. Relena smiles. "I'm very happy to see you, too, Mariemaia," she says, breaking their hug gently and then steering them both over to where Heero is now standing, waiting patiently for them to separate.

"You look well," Heero says, shaking Mariemaia's hand.

Mariemaia nods and smiles at Heero, thanking her. If Relena has an interesting relationship with the younger woman, then Heero has an even more surprising one with her, although there's really never been any hard feelings between the two of them.

Relena waits until the younger woman's seated before she sits back down too and leans forward, her book forgotten. "What's the occasion?" she asks. Because while they've talked many times before, this is the first time that Mariemaia's shown up at Relena's home, and without even sending a message first. "Is everything alright?"

Mariemaia leans back in her chair, still looking regal without even trying. "Yes, everything's fine," she reassures Relena. "I'm actually here to offer my help."

Relena starts in surprise. "Are you sure?" Heero asks, eyeing Mariemaia with her sharp gaze. She doesn't sound disapproving, though, or even all that surprised. "This would throw you right back into the politics of your family."

"This will put me in the middle of Relena's politics," Mariemaia corrects. "You could use my help," she adds, turning to Relena.

She's not wrong. "I could," Relena agrees. "Are you really sure that's what you want to do, though? You haven't set foot back on L3 in years."

Mariemaia shakes her head. "That wasn't my decision at first," she reminds Relena. It was Une's, of course. "And then later… I wanted to focus on growing up first, on figuring out who I want to be and what I want to do, before I went back. If that's what I decided on." She takes a deep breath, and then smiles softly at them both. "I want to help you with your dream to unite all of humanity, and I _can_ help, if you'll let me."

Part of Relena still wants to protest, but an even larger part of her is proud. That naïve little girl from years ago has grown up into a confident and mature woman, and Relena is so happy to see her again. "I could really use your help," she admits. "You have connections and contacts on L3 that we lack."

"You mean," Mariemaia says, her voice wry, "that I'm still seen as a leadership figurehead. Someone they can look to for answers, and blame if everything goes wrong."

Relena smiles, and Heero chuckles. "Yes, that," Relena agrees.

Mariemaia shrugs. "If I'm going to be seen as a leader, then I might as well act the part."

A very good point. Relena sighs. "If this is truly what you want," she says, "then I'll be happy to accept your offer of help. But I'm not going to force you to stay if you ever change your mind."

"Maybe this should happen on a trial basis for now," Heero suggests. "Mariemaia goes to L3 and discusses the situation with the local government, and she sees if they can work something out together."

It will be a delicate balance, Mariemaia showing up to offer her help without being seen as the dictator returning to start up a rebellion once again. If Relena trusted Mariemaia any less, she'd be worried about the same thing. Instead, she only feels relief that there's now an actual plan in place to deal with the situation on L3.

"Thank you, Mariemaia," Relena says, heartfelt.

Mariemaia lifts her chin in a rather familiar gesture. "This is for me, too," she says, "and for the people of L3."

Yes, Relena's not worried at all. "That's true."

Apparently, today is a day for good news. When Relena sits down at her desk later, she has an email from Quatre.

 _Relena-_

 _Good afternoon! This is just a short note to let you know that the L4 governor wants to set up a meeting time with you. He should send you the request soon himself, but I wanted to share the good news with you first. I'll try to be in attendance for the meeting, but feel free to talk without me there._

 _All my best,_

 _Quatre_

How Quatre knew that Relena would be reading his message in the afternoon, when she sees from the time stamp that he sent the email hours ago, she doesn't know. She checks the rest of her emails quickly, and yes, there's the request from the L4 governor for a meeting between the two of them. He's polite, and mentions being open to discussing the situation with her.

That, combined with Quatre mentioning to Relena that he doesn't necessarily need to be present for the talk, tells her everything that she needs to know. Though she wasn't ever truly worried about the L4 colony cluster, knowing that Quatre is perfectly capable of dealing with the governor all by himself, Relena's still pleased that the man seems willing to cooperate. L4 is clearly now agreeing to collaborate with her dream for the unity between Earth and all the colonies and Mars.

Two more pieces of Relena's plan have now fallen into place. Not bad for a day's work, really.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

How ironic that it's only after some of the colonial governments capitulate that Earth's various governments start panicking. Honestly, Relena's been expecting them to kick up a fuss ever since she arranged that fateful conference.

Not that the general public knows anything about what's happening. Relena doesn't necessarily agree with this, but she's also not naïve. She knows that she needs the support of all the major governments of the Earth Sphere before she brings her plans before the people. Otherwise, she'll be promising something that she can't actually guarantee yet.

Politicians do that all of the time, of course, but Relena's never promised something that she hasn't already found a way to deliver, and she doesn't want to start now. She _refuses_ to start now, when so much is at stake.

So the ones who are currently panicking are all of the smaller Earth governments. Relena knows why, too. Getting reluctant consent from Earth's parliament is one thing, but no one really expected the colonies to agree. Now that L3 and L4 have given their consent, and L5 has been in talks with Relena, it's finally hitting those Earth governments not included in the ESUN parliament that her plans might actually go forward.

Hence the panicking. It wouldn't be quite so annoying if they weren't so predictable in their reactions. Half of them are trying to bribe Relena, and the other half are trying to assassinate her. The former are more annoying to deal with, in her opinion, but then again, that's likely because Relena _doesn't_ have to deal with the latter group. Heero's set up a whole response team of Preventers agents to track down and stop any assassination attempts before they are enacted against Relena.

Still, the response group can't be everywhere at once. Which is why Relena is currently hunkered down behind a desk as shockwaves shake the building. She's scared, and worried about all of the workers inside who are being caught up in this latest attack against her, but mostly, Relena's angry that someone has stooped to public destruction and chaos.

At least she's visiting Dorothy right now. If Relena was alone, she's sure that she would be terrified and panicking. She can feel the fear trying to well up inside of her even now, but it's being kept at bay by the knowledge that there are few civilians as formidable as a pissed off Dorothy Catalonia. Her friend's obvious anger is keeping Relena's nerves calmer than they would be otherwise.

"Are those explosives inside?" Dorothy demands sharply to no one in particular. "Or are those idiots still outside my building and trying to force their way in?"

Relena would like to know the answer to those questions as well. She shakes her head to silently indicate that she has no idea, and finally feels the floor become stable enough again that she can stop clinging to the desk. Relena reaches into her pocket and pulls out her phone, dialing Heero's number.

"Relena?" Heero sounds interested, but not worried. Whatever's happening, the media hasn't caught wind of it yet, then.

"Heero, we have a bit of a situation here." She doesn't need to specify where; Relena usually lets Heero know where she's headed off to. Heero tends to worry more if she doesn't. The building chooses that moment to shake again, and Dorothy curses right next to Relena, loud enough that Heero has to have heard her through the phone.

Sure enough, Heero's voice turns sharp. "Was that an explosion?" she demands.

Relena blinks. She's surprised that Heero can hear the sound through the phone connection, muffled as it is to Relena's ears. Still, she nods. "Yes. That's the situation I meant. We have no idea what exactly is going on, but I assume it's another attempt on my life."

How the years can change people, including her. Once, Relena wouldn't have been able to say that with such a steady voice. Dorothy snorts, and Relena doesn't need to turn towards her to know that Dorothy is amused at her nonchalant tone. "This is my building," Dorothy reminds Relena. "I have my own security too, you know."

Relena just gives her an arch look in response. She of course assumes that any security team of Dorothy's is fully qualified, but still, they have no idea what the scale of this attack is. In Relena's ear, Heero says in response to that, "Good. Dorothy's team can distract whoever's outside, if someone's even there and these aren't just remote-activated explosives designed to bring the whole building down. I'm on my way."

She hangs up, and Relena grimaces at the mention of the building collapsing. Now she feels a little less safe up here. "Heero's on her way," Relena informs Dorothy, putting her phone back into her pocket.

Dorothy nods. "Of course she is. Meanwhile, I can't get a hold of anyone on the security team."

Relena doesn't need to ask for clarification to know that's not a good thing. She takes a deep breath and holds it for a minute, before letting it out slowly. "Should we leave?"

She doesn't think so, and Dorothy also shakes her head in disagreement. "There's no telling what the situation is outside of this room." Dorothy bites her lower lip, still looking furious.

Relena knows that her friend is more worried about her employees than the two of them, and smiles her way reassuringly. "I'm sorry," she offers. This is because of her, after all.

Dorothy smiles back, and flips her hair back over her shoulder. "Please. There's a reason why they chose to target you here, of all places. Clearly, I'm just as much of a threat as you are."

Of course Dorothy would take an assassination attempt as high praise. Despite the situation, Relena laughs a little. "We should move something against the door."

"We should," Dorothy agrees. They pull some filing cabinets over, and move the desk across the corner nearest to the door so that they can hide behind it better. If someone comes in through the door anyways, Relena and Dorothy will have some warning and can manage to get past them, hopefully.

Neither of them are expecting the far wall to explode, instead of someone trying to come in through the door. This newest shockwave knocks Relena back onto her ass, and Dorothy thumps down beside her.

This is so bad. Relena can't look around the desk to see how many of them are hurrying into the room, but now the two of them are backed into a corner, with their only escape route cut off. A sudden spray of bullets causes Relena to cringe and flatten herself to the floor, her hands coming up to cover her head.

Why does gunfire have to be so loud? Her ears are ringing.

Then Relena opens her eyes to share a look with Dorothy, and realizes with shock that her friend isn't there. She gasps in terror. "Dorothy?!" she cries out, scrambling up onto her hands and knees despite the danger, worried sick.

Dorothy is crouched down just around the side of the desk. In her hands is a gun that Relena's never seen before. She has no idea where it even came from. Slowly, Relena crawls over to Dorothy. Near the hole in the wall are two bodies. One of them is dressed up in some sort of uniform.

Relena feels sick all over again, though for a different reason now. She knows that her hopes of getting through all of this without bloodshed isn't realistic, but still, to see the results in front of her is awful.

"That man was part of my security team," Dorothy says, her teeth gritted in annoyance. "Call Heero back and tell her what's just happened. I don't know if he was working alone."

Relena nods shakily. "Yes. …Dorothy, are you alright?"

Dorothy's still staring at the bodies, the gun pointed downwards and held firmly within her grip, and she slowly nods her head. "I suppose so," she says. Her next breath is shaky, and Relena doesn't know what to say. For all her passion, Dorothy is a sensitive individual, and ending two people's lives like this has to have hurt her deeply.

Dorothy's also admirably resilient, and her next breath is steady. She gives Relena a grim smile. "I think we should move those filing cabinets again."

Relena smiles back tremulously, because her friend has just killed two people in her defense and that's _terrible_ , but she's also so lucky to have people who love her this much. "That sounds like a good idea," she agrees.

Together, the two of them clear the way to the door again, both of them as silent as the cooling corpses that they leave behind them.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Heero's been keeping an eye on the situation on L2. Therefore, she's not really all that surprised when she gets a random text message one day from an unknown number.

 _02\. 26132 241926132422 21129 26 1422227611._

 _(02. Any chance for a meet-up?)_

Heero smiles. Only Duo would use one of their old wartime codes in order to send a conversational text. Heero's fine meeting up with him anywhere, but doesn't know if Duo wants to see just her, or Relena too. She asks in her answering message.

 _01\. 2621211891426718522 1126972 1221 2._

 _(01. Affirmative. Party of 2?)_

While she's waiting for his reply, Heero contemplates why exactly Duo wants to meet up with her now. Not that Heero's not happy to hear from him, but she knows that Duo's been purposely living under the radar for several years, and something that's dragging him back out into the open could be very good news, or very bad.

Still, Heero hopes that if his news was that bad then Duo would have simply shown up in person. After all, political unrest on L2 is nothing new. Rather the opposite, in fact. All that Heero and Relena have accomplished there so far by announcing Relena's plans is to give the L2 governor something else to bitch about.

 _02\. 1312 2214229202213242 17687 68 188 21181322_

 _(02. No emergency. Just us is fine.)_

Heero feels her shoulders loosen with relief. Good, it's nothing that Heero needs to worry about too much, then. Nothing that they haven't planned for, in other words. Duo doesn't think that anything new is wrong, and Heero's come to trust his judgment over the years.

They quickly set up a meeting day, and then a time and place. Heero notes that Duo names an L2 colony that's been particularly outspoken against their governor as his preferred meeting spot, and she isn't surprised about that, either. Once they've both agreed, Heero informs Relena that she'll be visiting someone for a few days, though she doesn't mention any specific names. Until Heero knows what Duo wants for sure, and whether he prefers their meeting to remain a secret or not, she's not going to tell anyone that he's contacted her.

The next few days are busy with meetings and appointments. Not hers, but Relena's. Heero doesn't have to attend, but she chooses to keep an eye out for her friend. Especially after that fiasco at Dorothy's building.

Relena's worried about Dorothy now, ever since she killed two people in order to save their lives. Heero can't pretend to understand Dorothy's emotions about that. While Heero doesn't want to kill anyone, has never actually _wanted_ to kill anybody that she can recall, she has been a murderer since a very young age. Heero honestly doesn't think that she had a crisis after the first time, either. Children are so adaptable. Heero had simply continued to follow Odin Lowe's orders.

So while she'll be gone, Heero assembles a team to see to Relena's safety, with Frank Parks heading it, and then flies a small shuttle to L2. She could have taken one illegally, but there's no need to anymore. Preventers has hundreds of small shuttles like this one all over the world, and up in space, and so all that Heero has to do is ask Une if she can borrow one. Even if there hadn't been any spare ones in Brussels for her to use, Heero could have taken a plane to a different airport, or even asked Quatre if she could borrow a shuttle of his. The only reason that Heero doesn't take Relena's personal one is because it's too conspicuous.

Which would be great for Relena's security, since everyone would assume that she was on board the shuttle and not on Earth anymore. Still, it would draw too much attention to Heero's destination, instead of the nondescript shuttle that she does use.

Duo didn't specify a specific place beyond the designated colony, so Heero docks and starts walking. She'll be able to tell whether Duo's following her himself, or merely has eyes looking out who will get the information back to him, by how long he leaves her alone before making an appearance. When she picks a random café and takes a seat, it's about ten minutes before Duo shows up. He wasn't trailing her personally, then.

Duo smiles genuinely when he sees her, but he also looks tired. Like he hasn't been sleeping well for the past few weeks, or more. Heero keeps her concern under wraps, though, knowing that Duo would just brush it off. In that way, they're very similar.

"How's it hangin', good lookin'!" Duo calls out loudly when he gets to her table, sitting down and giving her a playful wink.

Heero rolls her eyes, but doesn't protest the charade. By the time that Duo settles in and leans back casually, anyone that was watching them curiously has now gone back to their own business, satisfied that they're simply two people out on a date. Heero still doesn't know how Duo can put people off their guard so easily, always knowing exactly what to say or do in order to draw attention away from or towards him, depending on what he needs at the time.

She nods in a silent greeting, and then quirks an eyebrow at Duo, silently asking if she's allowed to use his name here. He shrugs, a short jerk of one shoulder. Doesn't matter, then. "Duo," she says, greeting him verbally. "Everyone's been wondering when you'd get in touch." With something this huge going on all over the Earth Sphere, although not publicly just yet, of course all of the other former pilots have been in contact with her.

Duo smirks. "Miss me?" he teases. When Heero only gives him an impatient look, Duo sighs and loses the false cheer. The face that looks back at her is serious now. "How is everyone?"

"Everyone's fine," Heero answers. They're sitting at a table in a corner, far away from the front door and windows, with both of them able to keep the rest of the place in sight. "Quatre's been bored lately, I think."

Duo chuckles and relaxes some finally, instead of only pretending. "Yeah, can't say the same, unfortunately. All of this has really sped up my timetable, Heero."

Ah, so that's why he hasn't been in touch before now. Heero shrugs. "She waited five years." Which was actually a couple of years more than Relena had originally wanted to wait, but Heero had cautioned her to take her time.

"That she did," Duo agrees. He doesn't say out loud that he's thankful for that, but then again, he doesn't need to. Heero already knows. "Still, the last couple of months have been _very_ interesting on L2. Hell, there's colonies even I wouldn't want to try leaving or entering right now."

And Heero just bets that the L2 governor's home colony is right at the top of that list. Or was, until Heero arrived. At least now she knows exactly why Duo has contacted her. He must finally have enough of the L2 population's support, and wants to make a move against their current leader. "Planning to take the seat yourself?" she asks, teasing Duo back for earlier.

He makes the expected face of disgust at the idea, and snorts. "Hell, no." Heero personally thinks that's a pity, because Duo could be a very good governor for L2. But it would tie him down, when Duo always seems to find himself feeling restless when he stays in one place for too long. His wanderlust is another thing that the two of them have in common.

Heero thinks about mentioning her opinion anyway, just to see him grimace or blush, but decides not to. "Then you have someone in mind?" she asks, because she's not about to include herself in this mission unless he's already planted someone to take over afterwards.

The look that Duo gives her in response is mostly amused and a little exasperated. It's familiar. "Of course I do." Then he smirks. "Hilde."

Heero blinks, and then grins. That's an excellent choice, yes. "Good. So, want to order something?" Before they leave for the governor's colony.

"I could eat," Duo admits. He looks like it, like he's been too busy to eat regularly lately, which is why Heero brought up food in the first place. They can afford to take some time now and eat something.

And then it's off to a nearby colony to assassinate the governor of L2. Relena won't approve, but she's not one of them. She's not an ex-Gundam pilot. Heero understands that there's no other option if they're going to stop L2 from spiraling any further into chaos. These people deserve a better leader, which is why Duo's spent years gathering enough influence so that everyone local is willing to back him and his people, and not the governor.

"Do you believe in Relena's vision?" Heero asks, after they've gone up to the counter and placed their orders and then sat back down again. Not that she plans to back out of helping Duo or anything if he doesn't, but she's curious about his opinion.

Duo arches an eyebrow at her. "I really want to," he answers. He leans forward, his elbows on the table. "If anyone can pull this off, it'll be you and Relena."

Heero understands. "You're skeptical that it will work out in the long-term." She can understand that. "So is Wufei."

Duo's mouth quirks up in a rueful grin. "We terrorists see a lot more anarchy in humanity than unity. I have faith in you two, though."

Before long, their order is called. Time to plan out their mission over sandwiches and coffee. It feels like old times. "Let's get started, then."

Time to go begin a revolution on L2. There hasn't been one in years, so really, they're long overdue.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Heero honestly never thought that she'd be walking inside a Preventers building again, but here she is. She expects to feel nostalgic, but instead it's just like walking into any other office building. Maybe it's because this is a branch office in space, and not the main office in Brussels that she was assigned to for eight years. Maybe she's just become so jaded against the organization as a whole that she doesn't care anymore.

Whatever the reason, she's grateful for the lack of nostalgia. When Heero walks through the doors, there's no pause, no moment of regret, and that's enough for her. Getting through security is easy and quick, but that's only because Heero's authorized to go wherever she wants inside any Preventers building now. Her clearance marks her as someone very important, and after a retinal and fingerprint scan, she's waved through.

There's a noticeable upsurge of hushed conversation when she walks on by. Once again, Heero's name and face have become somewhat infamous among the Preventers Corps. She doesn't really approve, and would prefer to remain anonymous, but there's no helping it. Heero being in Relena's employ, while technically not true at all, is nevertheless now common knowledge, and no doubt every agent that Heero currently passes is contemplating her purpose for being here.

At least no one's talking about whether or not she's fucking a fellow Preventers agent anymore. No, the whispers that Heero catalogs as she walks through the building only contain questions about her business here. Which is a much more reasonable curiosity, in Heero's opinion.

Well, let them wonder. Heero doesn't have to explain herself to anyone inside of this building if she doesn't want to. But after giving it some thought and discussing it over with Duo, Heero has decided to visit the office of L2's Divisional Head and inform him that she's on the colony. It'll serve as a good alibi for her being in the area.

The man has to be panicking just a little bit right now. After all, it's not every day that his office hears news about the governor of L2 being assassinated. The poor guy will probably assume that Heero is here to reprimand him for failing in his duties. It's honestly pretty amusing, not that Heero is going to let him know that.

This is nice, she admits silently. Being noticed for her reputation again, and not because of baseless rumors. The resulting mix of awe and envy is annoying, yes, but it's so much more preferable to scorn and derision.

Still, while she's here, Heero's also going to check up on the office and make sure that everything's running smoothly, especially with L2 in its current political upheaval. She's not going to broadcast her intentions, though. Let them continue to wonder why she's here, and what the consequences of her inspection will be. Really, it's good for the agents to have to deal with the unknown like this.

And if Heero gets some enjoyment out of their panic, then that's even better.

########

Relena doesn't know exactly what Heero's up to, but the media suddenly reporting on the governor of L2 being assassinated gives her a big clue. Not that Heero's the only person who could have done it. The deceased governor did nothing to make friends during his career, and it shows now in the lack of mourners and outcries at his death.

Still, Relena doesn't approve. And of course Heero knows that Relena doesn't, which is why Heero didn't tell her about the plans beforehand.

Is it awful of her that just a tiny part of Relena is grateful? She doesn't know who will become the next governor of L2, but she knows that they won't be as obstructive as the previous governor was. Not after what happened to him. In essence, Heero's made sure that L2 will not become the new symbol of rebellion, as it's rather fond of becoming.

The people of L2 will be safer, too, without that man controlling them. Relena holds that knowledge close to her heart, and tries to let go of her feelings of guilt. True, she knew nothing about Heero's plans beforehand, but would Heero have done this at all if not for Relena? She doesn't know, and doesn't want to.

Relena forces those thoughts from her mind, and tries to focus instead on the upcoming parliament meeting. For once, the parliament members of Earth are the ones that have politely requested Relena to attend, instead of her calling them in order to arrange a conference. She'd be pleased at this change, except Relena knows that this isn't about them accepting her openly. No, it's about the situation on L2, she's sure.

When Relena arrives, the faces that greet her are stony and grim. It's almost enough to mask the sharp smell of fear pervading the room. "Gentlemen."

"Miss Peacecraft, I'll be blunt," Governor Reckon says, beckoning her to stand in front of them all. Relena walks over to stand behind the podium instead, her only guard Mr. Parks. Heero's absence is noticed, of course. "We do not approve of your current actions, and we don't think that the common people will, either. For someone who professes to desire nothing but peace, you-"

"-Am doing everything within my power to achieve that, though it's a much more difficult task when others are not willing to give me their support." Relena's not going to be reprimanded, not by these men. She's done playing their game, and has been for years now.

"Really," another governor says, voice skeptical. His tone is all-but calling her a liar. "This is a funny way of going about that, arranging the assassinations of anyone who disagrees with you. It's reminiscent of another young man who proposed to want peace."

The entire room seems to suck in one gigantic breath at that statement. Even now, so many years later, the ghost of Treize Khushrenada haunts these people. It hits Relena suddenly that she is older now than Treize was before his death, and she feels slightly ill at that thought.

After letting the stillness settle in the room for a minute, Relena responds. "I had nothing to do with the situation on L2. Not even any prior knowledge of the unfortunate incident." A few of them scoff at that. "I'm not denying that the results are in my best interests," she continues quickly, before any of them think to interrupt her. "I'm simply telling you truly that this was not my doing." No, Heero made sure of that.

"Besides," Relena continues, letting a little ice creep into her tone, "if it was true that I'm going to start assassinating every dissenter, I doubt many of you would still be alive, am I correct?" That causes a few uncomfortable glances between some parliament members, but no one protests the truth of that statement. "Really, if you think that I'm not above killing off people just because they disagree with me, then I'm honestly surprised that you would arrange for this meeting to occur at all."

She's not surprised, really. Relena's sure that this meeting is being recorded somehow. She has no doubt that they were hoping to acquire some incriminating evidence of her involvement on record. As it is, they'll be disappointed.

Relena sighs, and makes sure her expression appears disappointed. "Gentlemen, the situation on L2 is tragic, and I'm honestly sorry that it has happened at all, but I will not stand here and let you accuse me of such dishonorable conduct. If that was your only reason for requesting my presence today, then I'll take my leave now."

No one objects, not that Relena waits for them to. She's almost to the door before she stops and glances back over her shoulder. "Oh," she says, as though the notion only just comes to her, "as for my acting similarly to Treize Khushrenada, I'm afraid you're quite wrong about that." His name being spoken out loud actually causes a few of them to flinch.

"After all," Relena continues, her voice still carefully calm, "let's not forget that you gentlemen are the ones who gladly supported him in his bid for power." Whereas they have only ever sought to obstruct Relena's way forward.

With that last cutting remark, Relena finally exits the room, leaving them to their paranoia and old school ways of doing things. She's had enough of them all. If there's one thing that Relena has learned after years of listening to all of them bitch at each other over nothing, it's that if she wants something done, then Relena obviously has to accomplish it herself.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Even with the governments of Earth now complacent, L4 and L3 in agreement, L1 and L5 in talks with her, and the situation on L2, while not exactly calming down, at least finally stabilizing, Relena still isn't expecting a request for her to call Mars.

Milliardo had told Relena that he would not consider her proposal until everyone else agreed, and they all haven't. Not yet. So, really, Relena should have expected it when she sees Noin's face instead of his on her vid screen. "What's wrong?" she asks immediately, concerned about Noin's obvious worry.

"Nothing," Noin reassures her, although she still looks worried. Relena is skeptical, and says nothing in response. After a moment, Noin sighs. "Zechs found out about what I've been doing," she admits finally.

"What _we've_ been doing," Relena corrects her. She's not going to shy away from her part of the blame. It was her plan, after all.

Noin smiles briefly, but then she goes back to looking worried. "He's upset."

Relena shakes her head. "I knew he was going to be angry," she says.

"No," Noin disagrees, "I don't mean angry. He's…"

When Noin doesn't continue, Relena tries. "He's sad?" She didn't think that he would be.

"He's perplexed," Noin finally says. Relena raises one quizzical eyebrow. "He doesn't understand why you didn't talk to him about all of this first, instead of me."

Because he would have said no? Whatever she sees in Relena's expression causes Noin to laugh softly. Relena sniffs, faking offense, just to get Noin to crack another smile. "He feels left out," Relena clarifies.

Noin opens her mouth, closes it, and then nods. "Yes, exactly. Can you blame him? We've set up allies and contacts for his own government without his knowledge."

"He should be happy that we've done the hard work," Relena mutters. She waves away Noin's sound of protest. "It's true," she insists. "We've played nice with everyone else so that he won't have to."

"I think he still would have appreciated being given the option to help," Noin says, her voice and expression wry. "How did you feel, when Zechs was deciding everything without your input at the end of AC195?"

Relena barely manages not to wince. Okay, she can understand Noin's point. Still. "Why did you agree to help me keep this from him, then?" she asks, curious.

"Because you were right," Noin says, shrugging. "Zechs would have dug his heels in and thought the whole thing was useless to try from the start. We accomplished a lot without him. I think he's feeling useless."

"Useless?" Relena echoes disbelievingly. Milliardo confuses her. She's never been able to predict him.

"A little," Noin agrees, amused again.

Relena thinks about that for a minute. "So, what's he going to do now?" She needs to know if he's actually going to obstruct her in any way.

The look in Noin's eyes is considering. Of what, Relena doesn't know. "He's holed up in his office, looking through all of the documentation, determined to catch up."

Relena spends several seconds just staring blankly at the vid screen. She blinks, and is surprised to find her eyes becoming moist. "He's going to help?" she finally asks, her voice so quiet that she's not sure Noin can hear it.

This time, Noin's smile is more of a smirk. "Oh, Zechs insisted," she confides. "Congratulations, Relena. You've got Mars's official government backing."

Relena's so lightheaded that she's a little dizzy. Milliardo's going to help her. She still can't quite believe it. The worry about Mars that Relena didn't even realize she's been carrying around with her all this time abruptly vanishes. She laughs once, in relief, and has to wipe her eyes.

She doesn't know what to say. Relena wants to express her gratitude, to apologize, to explain, but she doesn't need to say any of this to Noin, she realizes. "Could you let Milliardo know that I'm going to contact him tomorrow?" she asks.

The look Noin gives Relena at that is warm and fond. "Of course," she agrees.

When she hangs up her call, Relena spends a long time just sitting in her chair and looking out of her window. The world can be so beautiful, she can't help but think. Just like space. There's so much fragile beauty in space.

She's going to protect all of it, protect everyone, protect the future of humanity. It'll still take months to get agreements from L2, L1, and L5, Relena's sure, not to mention actually creating and implementing a new constitution that everyone can agree on. She's got so much work to still accomplish.

Her plan is finally possible, though. She can feel it. Everything's going to be worth it when all of humanity is finally united as one people.


End file.
